Active and Empathic Listening

Levels of listening: transcending biological hearing

In education, the physiological act of hearing is often confused with the deep competence of listening.

Active listening, as it is approached in coaching, requires an intentional disposition where the teacher sets aside his or her own mental agenda, judgments, and desire to respond, to focus fully on the student's experience.

It is not about listening to replicate or correct, but listening to understand the mental and emotional structure of the other.

It is essential to distinguish between "inward" listening (where the teacher filters what the student says through his or her own biases) and "outward" or empathetic listening.

In the latter, the educator empties himself to accommodate the student's reality.

This involves capturing not only academic data, but underlying needs, fears, and motivations that are not always explicitly verbalized.

When a student feels genuinely heard, his level of defensiveness drops and his openness to learning increases exponentially.

Calibration as an integral reading tool

For listening to be total, the teacher must develop the skill of "calibration."

This technical concept refers to the refined use of sensory perception to read the student beyond the words. It involves observing the congruence between what is said and how it is said.

A student may verbally claim to have understood a lesson, but his or her hesitant tone of voice, labored breathing, or closed body posture may be screaming otherwise.

The teacher-coach uses this visual and auditory information (tone, volume, rhythm) as a navigation map.

If he detects an inconsistency, he does not judge it, but uses it to probe with curiosity.

Calibration makes it possible to detect micro-signals of stress, boredom or enthusiasm that would go unnoticed in traditional teaching.

By tuning the five senses, the educator can intervene much more precisely, adjusting his methodology to the real state of the group at that precise moment.

Summary

Active listening requires an intentional disposition where the teacher sets aside his or her judgments and mental agenda. It is not only about listening, but also about understanding the emotional structure.

It is essential to distinguish between internal and empathic listening, where the educator empties himself of prejudices. When a learner feels listened to, his or her level of defensiveness drops and learning takes place.

Calibration makes it possible to read non-verbal signals such as the student's tone of voice or posture. This technique detects inconsistencies in order to intervene precisely and adjust the methodology.